Kings County Nurses Rally for Suspended Union Colleague

Outside Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn on Oct. 22, members of the New York State Nurses Association gathered for an emergency rally and press conference with a single demand: bring back Sarah Dowd.

Dowd, a neurocritical care ICU nurse practitioner and vice president of the hospital’s Local Bargaining Unit, was suspended without pay on Oct. 9 and barred from all NYC Health+Hospitals facilities, according to the Brooklyn Paper, which reported on the rally. A nearly 10-year veteran of the public hospital system, she had come in on her day off to make rounds and support colleagues dealing with chronic understaffing, despite mandated staffing ratios. She also spoke about patient safety and what the Brooklyn Paper described as documented, long-standing staffing concerns. Afterward, she received a letter from management suspending her for “misconduct,” with no further explanation.

Nurses at the rally said the suspension cannot be separated from conditions on the floor. Jack McShane, an emergency department nurse and NYSNA member, said nurses at Kings County often care for eight or nine patients at a time, and sometimes as many as 12 or 13, against a five-patient maximum set by their union contract and New York state staffing law. He also pointed to the emergency department’s boarding crisis: at one of the busiest emergency departments in the country, he said, patients often spend days on stretchers before being moved to inpatient beds. McShane called Dowd’s suspension an effort by management to bust union activity.

Marie Telusma, an ambulatory care nurse with nearly 13 years at the hospital, called the suspension “extreme and unjust” and warned it could set a precedent for union nurses who speak up in the future.

Elected officials joined the crowd. State Sen. Jabari Brisport, a Brooklyn Democrat, recalled that nurses were part of the coalition that kept SUNY Downstate open when it faced possible closure, a move that would have strained Kings County Hospital. He urged management to fix the ratios, hire more nurses and reinstate Dowd. Assembly candidate David Orkin also appeared at the rally.

The pressure is building beyond the hospital steps. A petition demanding Dowd’s immediate reinstatement with back pay has gathered nearly 1,000 signatures from nurses, ancillary staff and physicians at Kings County Hospital Center. NYSNA, which represents about 45,000 members statewide, said it plans to file an improper practice charge against the health system.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans called the suspension an “egregious act of worker intimidation.” Executive Director Pat Kane said the hospital system should be working with nurses on chronic understaffing, particularly as the union expects an influx of uninsured and underinsured patients into city hospitals at a time when thousands of immigrant health care workers have lost their jobs.

The Brooklyn Paper reported that it had reached out to NYC Health+Hospitals for comment and was awaiting a response. The system’s account of why Dowd was suspended has not yet been made public.